The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
On March 30 this year Australia lined up with 80 other countries at the UN in New York to sign the Convention on the Rights or Persons with Disabilities
On March 30 this year Australia lined up with 80 other countries at the UN in New York to sign the Convention on the Rights or Persons with Disabilities
In such company my role as Human Rights Commissioner is not to speak as an expert on mental health, but to emphasise the human rights dimensions of the way that we as a nation respond to mental health issues.
Good morning everyone. I'm actually thinking of developing a theory of corporate management based on reactions to that introduction. For example, when I say good morning to first year university students, they echo "good morning" back to me; when I say good morning to politicians, they remain silent, lest they be misquoted; when I say good morning to management consultants, they write it down; and when I say good morning to web content strategists, they hurry off to turn it into a inaccessible bitmap image.
The title I have taken for these remarks is "Is there a slow lane on the information superhighway". I fear that by now there may already be something dated or quaint in using the term "information superhighway". I am going to use it anyway, and perhaps make matters of style worse by adding reference to a slow lane, because I think a few important issues are suggested by this title.
It's the movies that have really been running things in America ever since they were invented. They show you what to do, how to do it, when to do it, how to feel about it, and how to look how you feel about it .....
Probably most of us here are parents, and we all have dreams for our children. One of my dreams for my 18-year-old son and his girl friend is that they will be able to participate in society in the same way as everyone else.
In the United States, 54 years ago today, Rosa Parks was arrested. Rosa Parks was a black woman, arrested for refusing to sit at the back of a bus. It's appalling to think this occurred. It's even more appalling that 54 years later in Australia, many people with disability can't even get on the bus.
Some of you might recall media coverage regarding a young man undergoing cancer treatment who was required to attend a job capacity assessment the day he got out of hospital, to establish his entitlement to disability support payments.
I follow this custom wherever I go to speak in public. I think recognising Australia 's indigenous peoples and their prior ownership of this land in this way is more than just good manners. It is an important part of recognising our diversity as a nation.
(These are speaking notes used by the Commissioner at a series of events in all Australian capitals as well as Alice Springs through March 2003. Speeches as delivered included acknowledgement of State and Territory anti-discrimination colleauges co-hosting forums in each case as well as guests from the disability community including those presenting personal accounts of use of the DDA.)
Today is International Day of People with Disabilities. It is a day for acknowledging those among us whose daily lives include the realities of a disability.
Allow me to begin by also acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, and pay my respects to their elders both past and present.
I am very pleased to be able to contribute to this Forum and would like to congratulate the co-convenors, Rhonda and Fiona, and their organisations for this initiative, which is just one part of the Disability Advisory Council's Disability Action Plan Project running throughout 2006.
Thank you Anne-Mason and Ruth for this invitation to address your AGM on health access issues, and in particular access to height adjustable examination beds in primary health care facilities.
It's important for us all in talking about reasonable adjustment not to appear to present employing people with disability as something new or exceptional being asked of employers.